As can be seen from photos and transcripts at the above-cited link, this mob action was primarily carried out by masses of young white heterosexuals, with much of the aggression dominated by young white men.

Surprisingly (not surprisingly) there were no reports of police officers killing, choking, or otherwise assaulting these violent individuals, despite the clear threats these individuals were posing to the community and public safety.

Nonetheless, now is the time to re-examine the white heterosexual family unit.

In what ways are white parents modeling this privileged, aggressive behavior? How are white parents, particularly fathers, contributing to this mayhem? We mustn't let them continue to fail their children.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Might this (mansplaining) be related to this (men on average being more narcissistic than women)?

I would speculate yes.

By far, most men who have engaged in mansplaining with me seem to have been motivated by supreme over-confidence in their own intellect coupled with an assumption that my own, a woman's, was beneath theirs. They have also seen driven by entitlement, both to my time and to engage in aggression when they have deemed me insufficiently pleasant to their attempts to "correct" and "instruct" me.

This being said, I would agree with the speculation that men being, on average, more narcissistic than women is at least partly explained by socialization.

Not all men. Of course.

I also believe that men's on average *ahem* greater confidence in themselves also contributes to women experiencing imposter syndrome.

In my professional life, I have learned to be wary of those, especially men, who often speak with extreme confidence and who rarely express doubt, even when complicated issues arise. I have also learned that, when people are uncertain in professional situations, people who speak confidently can be very convincing, even if they're completely full of shit. I have seen leaders make horrible decisions, because they listened to the persons who spoke the most confidently rather than the person who expressed uncertainty about a course of action.

When I have been faced with decisions in my own life, I try to remember this, and to therefore trust my gut and listen to my relatively shakier inner monologue that's thinking we maybe don't know all of the facts - even if there's a louder, more confident voice saying otherwise.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

I grew up reading Parade magazine every Sunday morning and Marilyn vos Savant's "Ask Marilyn" column was, in my opinion, the best part of it.

The above-cited article is chock full of some big-time condescending mansplaining circa 1990, demonstrating that even though the term mansplaining had yet to exist, the phenomenon itself certainly did.

If a Guinness Boom of World Records holder for Highest IQ can't answer a brainteaser in her column without getting 10,000 letters erroneously telling her she's wrong, where is the hope for the rest of us?

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

"Men’s rights activists often cite the first time they realized it’s a woman’s world. They call these 'red pill' moments, after the scene in The Matrix when the main character is faced with the decision to swallow a red pill and recognize the true nature of the world or take a blue pill and continue living a lie For Elam, that revelation came at age 13, when his mother tried to force him to take his diarrhea medicine."

The article doesn't include some of Paul's most infamous words of "wisdom" regarding women, but to recap, in the past he's said that the last two generations of women are:

"shallow, self-serving wastes of human existence—parasites—semi-human black holes that suck resources and goodwill out of men and squander them on the mindless pursuit of vanity."

So it will surprise you greatly that the referenced Buzzfeed presents Elam has having quite the troubled past with women in his life.

1) I didn't feel that something was "lacking" from my reading experience. Although, frankly my dears, I also didn't expect to find anything lacking in my reading experience when I set out on the Experiment.

2) I have re-learned that in addition to fantasy and science fiction, I also greatly enjoy both adventure books and (not sure how I feel about this term, so scare quote) "hard" science fiction books - especially when women are the subjects. The latter two genres in particular are often coded as "male" genres, particularly when men are the subjects - but I wonder how that would change if women were more consistently portrayed as major characters with cool roles within adventure writing and "hard" science fiction. Chris Moriarty's Spin State series was the most thought-provoking book of the bunch, for me.

3) I'm a big fan of Margaret Atwood, obvs. But, one of my favorite aspects of this Experiment was sharing updates here on the blog and, in turn, receiving great book recommendations from those of you who made them. Jacqueline Carey, Nalo Hopkinson, and Nicola Griffith were all authors new to me and I will be reading more of their work in the future! Thanks to all for participating!

4) I skewed heavily in science fiction and fantasy in 2014, particularly trilogies and sequels. Carey's Kushiel books are massive, so I wasn't able to get through as many books as I thought I would. No regrets though. The only series I've given up on is Friedman's Magister series - it just isn't working for me, for reasons I wrote about here.

Relatedly, I was unsure how I would respond to Davis' Becoming Odyssa - as some of the reviews I had read of it noted annoyance at the author injecting her Christian beliefs into her account of hiking the Appalachian Trail. I don't share the author's beliefs and couldn't relate to them - but I could relate to some of her experiences and the feeling of being called to nature without having a necessarily fleshed out articulation as to why. So, I didn't find her injection of her religion to be a detraction from the overall story (she also recounts going skinny dipping with a lesbian at one point, so!). At the same time, Cheryl Strayed's account of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail was more raw and, to me, relatable, however.

5) Queer fiction or fiction with queer characters- I really have missed reading it. Griffith, Lo, Moriarty, Carey, and Waters reminded me that I want to read more of it. Suggestions?

5) Looking forward, I hope to continue writing occasional "what's everyone reading" posts, in hopes that people will continue sharing the great recommendations with one another. I'm currently reading Carey's Kushiel's Avatar. I also have Dangerous Women, the anthology edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, in my queue so I suppose I'll likely read that at some point this year.

*The idea for this Experiment was borrowed from a post by Lilit Marcus - you can read what she has to say about her experience here.

Monday, January 19, 2015

"How can men possibly be expected to participate in a space where the deity, his sacrificial son, that son's twelve BFFs, the author of every single book of their holy text, the pope, every cardinal, every archbishop, every bishop, every priest, every deacon are all men, but women are allowed to say things and wash dishes? No wonder men are running for the hills."

This observation was in response to the former highest-ranking US cardinal blaming the "feminization" of the Catholic Church on sexually confusing male priests, causing priests to sexually abuse children, and running men out of church:

"While he directs most of his ire at 'radical feminists,' he also appears rankled by ordinary women doing ordinary Church activities. To him, that act alone constitutes the dangerous feminization of the Church that has alienated, disenchanted and made men sexually confused.

'Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women,' Burke continued. 'The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved. Men are often reluctant to become active in the Church. The feminized environment and the lack of the Church's effort to engage men has led many men to simply opt out.'"

His is a common whine - that once women are allowed, even in small incremental ways, into the Boys Only Treehouse, it's no longer a super-duper special place by virtue of its total exclusion of girls and women. Thus does inequality (not even equality!) for women become framed as "oppression of men," which results in an entire fucking men's rights movement.

Contact Me

About Me

Hello, welcome to Fannie's Room. I write about feminism. A lot. But whatever your opinions, I invite you to stay awhile and take a stroll through the archives before making assumptions about what I believe. Constructive feedback is welcome, but I'd prefer if people are civil.
While I don't identify with any major religion, I do try to live by the virtues they share yet that are largely overlooked, ignored, or forgotten these days: Compassion and Loving-Kindness.
That being said, if I'm not hanging out in Fannie's Room, I can probably be found planning the homosexual agenda, twirling my mustache, plotting a leftist feminist takeover of the universe, and coordinating the recruitment effort of the lesbian branch of the Gay Mafia. My days are busy.
Also, this is a strictly non-commercial blog, so spam or ads in the comments will be deleted.